Hissa Hilal, woman poet and master of bedouin dialect poetry, rocked the Arab world (and my world) by winning the Million’s Poet competition aired on Abu Dhabi state television.
She has since received death threats for the words of this poem. I think the real power is in her voice. And in the incredibly brave stance she is taking. Read more about the story at Times Online.
The Chaos of Fatwas
I have seen evil from the eyes of the subversive fatwas
in a time when what is lawful is confused with what is not lawful;
When I unveil the truth, a monster appears from his hiding place;
barbaric in thinking and action, angry and blind;
wearing death as a dress and covering it with a belt
He speaks from an official, powerful platform,
terrorizing people and preying on everyone seeking peace;
the voice of courage ran away and the truth is cornered and silent,
when self-interest prevented one from speaking the truth.
-Hissa Hilal
Poem of the Month 
thanks for the posy, I’m really surprised , shocked and I can’t formulate an opinion now.I need time to form a reasonable judgement.I don’t want to jump into hasty conclusions.
Such poets humble each of who attempt to write poems that may have some impact on the wider world around us…often we take the safe course…but her words are with the same passion of those poets who came before us whose words could bring death calling to their door. Thanks for sharing this post…it was truly wonderful to see.
[…] criticized religious extremism in her poem, “The Chaos of Fatwas” (translated here by blogger-editor, Nina Alvarez) which she read in the second round of competition. In doing so, […]
Is the text of the entire poem available in Arabic or translated into English?
Reblogged this on The Blue Bird Law.